The Hateful Eight, Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Coggins, Demien Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, James Parks, Channing Tatum, Dana Gourrier, Zoë Bell, Lee Horsley, Gene Jones, Keith Jefferson, Craig Stark, Belinda Owino.

Not so much a Western, but a murder mystery wrapped in the backdrop of post civil-war America and into which the bleakness of the situation, the desperation of the unfolding events will have many surely comparing Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, The Hateful Eight in no small measure to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None or any derivation of the name.

The Hateful Eight, Film Review. full post

(400 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

David Bowie, Black Star. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 5/10

It is perhaps a peculiarity of life that you can miss someone for years, you can wonder why they stopped producing some of the most intricate and interesting sounds, the most devilish of lyrics and the most enjoyable ways to spend an evening infront of a log fire and yet after many years away they come back into your life and you have to admit that you might wonder what you saw or heard of them in the first place.

David Bowie, Black Star. Album Review. full post

(410 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Seven Deadly Sins: No Pride (But What I See In You).

I have no Pride, not in appearance.

 

For why take pride in being anything other

than clean and tidy-ish,

as long as my hair is clean,

as long as the clothes are ironed

and fit, no slight down

ward curve of the jeans falling

from their natural place,

but I shall wear no tie, I shall

not place a noose around my neck

and squirm and feel the tightness

of the knot as it cuts

deep into my throat.

 

I shall feel no Pride,

Seven Deadly Sins: No Pride (But What I See In You). full post

(169 words, estimated 41 secs reading time)

The Simon And Garfunkel Story, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Whilst Liverpool audiences have had the honour of watching the legendary Art Garfunkel perform within the last year, a night of beautiful appreciation for one of the defining voices of the 20th Century at the Philharmonic Hall, the chances of both the harmony and the man with the guitar playing alongside him in the city of music are more than astronomical, they are virtually impossible. It is in to that melancholic fact that solace of any type must be sought and in The Simon and Garfunkel Story, solace, the comfort of New York folk and inspired lyrics, is offered and enjoyed by the entire Empire Theatre audience.

The Simon And Garfunkel Story, Gig Review. Empire Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(474 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Hinds, Leave Me Alone. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

The slight edge of Punk, the feel of the low down but verging on the scale that will see them become talked of in living rooms up and down the country in highly anticipated terms. It is rare to be talking of something that holds such fascination that comes out of Madrid without thinking of one of the world’s most discussed football teams and yet as the Hinds’ new album sinks into the consciousness of the listener it is possible to hold the band up as a shining example of the new feeling of betrayal that the young across Europe are experiencing as they fight to be heard more so now than ever.

Hinds, Leave Me Alone. Album Review. full post

(399 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

The Ragamuffins, Never In A Month Of Sundays. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is the infectious opening beat that draws you in, the taste of forbearance and regard for a well placed tune that brings you closer to understanding just what it is about music that keeps you coming back for more, that drives the soul to find new ways of expressing a deep love for reckless and well thought abandon. For many the idea of finding temptation in lyrics and the trade off in musical accomplishment is like winning the lottery, for some it never comes at all and the simplicity of it missed as they complain of life having the catch all phrase of Never In A Month of Sundays.

The Ragamuffins, Never In A Month Of Sundays. Single Review. full post

(349 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

A War, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Pilou Asbæk, Dar Salim, Tuva Novotny, Søren Malling, Charlotte Munck, Dulfi Al-Jabouri, Alex Høgh Andersen, Jakob Frølund, Philip Sem Dambæk.

There are no winners in war, just people who are alive and those who have died and sometimes those that are in between the two states, their hearts functioning but ground to stone and whose thoughts are too preoccupied with what they have witnessed to ever find solace in humanity again. War is meaningless at the best of times, when it sees the split second decision enforced upon someone, to let someone else die or a comrade, then the futility of it is heart-breaking and obvious, such is the madness of A War.

A War, Film Review. Picturehouse@F.A.C.T., Liverpool. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Seven Deadly Sins: Love Not Lust.

Never been the one for lust.

 

Love, now that’s a different prospect

altogether, for its patience is slow burning

and isn’t drowned in desire losing

its initial far thrown spark,

Chinese firework like, one big explosion

then nothing, the basic act

of the terminally pretty.

 

Love though confuses people, for

they think that if you say you love them,

their heads are turned, they believe

you have crossed the border into

infatuation, where as all you mean

is you love them, that lust is not on the agenda,

Seven Deadly Sins: Love Not Lust. full post

(146 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

I Have Lost My Way.

I have lost my way,

somewhere between here and there,

the signpost was deliberately shifted,

my objective clouded over

and when I look around me,

when I see the empty spaces

I feel the scream, primitive, course,

objectionable, intolerable, my hidden fear

of what is to come,

rise up and take control.

 

I plan ahead to confuse it,

it makes great sport, it fights harder

to wear me down but I am ready

and armed, equipped with sarcasm,

fortified by codeine and prepared

I Have Lost My Way. full post

(156 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Only Child, Buildings. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Nothing is built to last these days, it is the cry of the planners and the urban speculators that is heard that everything that has been erected can be demolished and something even greater can be placed in the empty space; never mind that the building might be beloved, serve more use in the way it is, everything it seems is ripe for building up and knocking down.

The analogy between man-made structures and the personal lives of the everyday and everybody is not lost as Liverpool’s Only Child return to the forefront of musical ambition and outstanding talent with the first song to be taken from their forthcoming new album, the incredible and lyrically blistering Buildings.

Only Child, Buildings. Single Review. full post

(355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)